“Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil. Do not be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few”  Eccl 5:1-2

There are no lack of voices in the church today but despite all of those voices and amazing messages of God’s revealed truth we are slowly but surely losing the skill of listening. When was the last time you just sat in the presence of God and listened, really drawn near to hear rather than to seek God’s intervention in your life. Most of our time before God is spent  with our predefined  ideas of what we want to hear rather than an open and vulnerable heart and mind. God wants to speak into our lives His heart and passion, He wants to refine and define our lives. Life changing transformation only comes when we draw near to hear!

In Luke 10:38-42 we read the following: “Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”  As familiar as we are with this passage of Scripture it’s worth revisiting the story to encounter afresh the truths it contains. Martha and Mary both welcomed the entrance of Jesus into their home and lives. After that the passage shows us two different journeys that the women took. Mary finds herself sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to His word. While Martha was “distracted with much serving”, which truth be told finds the majority of us on this journey with Martha. Martha wasn’t distracted by sin or bad things she was distracted in serving, and for so many of us we can get so busy about kingdom business we forget to sit at the Kings feet and let His word draw us into intimacy with Him. We are quick to tell God about who is doing what or what they are not doing. We are quick to run to him and elicit His support for our needs and areas we feel hard done by or are overlooked. Martha knew she could approach Jesus and obviously felt comfortable enough to do it as do many of us. But she didn’t draw near to hear!!! Martha drew near with agenda, plans, frustrations and need - not to sit and the masters feet and listen. To be drawn into intimate relationship with Jesus. The one thing that could not be taken away from her.

My cry to you dear friends is to draw near to hear - to sit at the masters feet and hear his word. To Listen not with the ears of your own dreams and agendas but with an open and willing heart.
 Don’t lose the art of hearing the voice of God! Sit in his presence today - He is speaking to you!